Autopsy of 3-year-old Sherin Mathews reveals she died of 'homicidal violence'

Heather Leighton, Fernando Alfonso III
| on January 3, 2018

Sherin Mathews, the 3-year-old Texas girl whose body was found in a drain in late October and whose parents have been charged in connection with the case, died from “homicidal violence,” PEOPLE learns
Media: People

The autopsy of 3-year-old Sherin Mathews reveals she died of "homicidal violence," according to reports.

WFAA reports that law enforcement officials confirmed the cause of death of the Richardson girl on Wednesday.

Mathews was first reported missing by her adoptive parents, Wesley and Sini Mathews, on Oct. 3 and was later found dead. After her body was discovered, both parents were arrested. Wesley is charged with first-degree felony injury to a child and Sini is charged with child endangerment or abandonment relating to the death.

Sherin Mathews's father Wesley was arrested by Richardson Police and released on a $250,000 bond. He was charged with abandoning or endangering a child.

Photo: BeFunky Collage

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Sherin Matthews, Sini Mathews

Photo: David Woo, Associated Press

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Sini Mathews, mother of Sherin Mathews, waits for her and her husband's hearing to resume in Judge Cheryl Lee Shannon's courtroom during a court hearing to determine whether Sherin's parents, Wesley and SiniSini Mathews, mother of Sherin Mathews, waits for her and her husband's hearing to resume in Judge Cheryl Lee Shannon's courtroom during a court hearing to determine whether Sherin's parents, Wesley and Sini Mathews of Richardson, will get a chance to be reunited with their surviving child, a 3-year-old girl, at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Building on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017 in Dallas. Wesley and Sini Mathews are trying to regain custody of the biological daughter who was taken into Child Protective Services custody after Sherin was reported missing Oct. 7, 2017. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Photo: The National Center For Missing And Exploited Children

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See Houston-area children who have been reported missing so far in 2017 up ahead.

"There is nothing in the autopsy results that indicate Sini Mathews had anything to do with the death of Sherin Mathews," attorney Mitch Nolte told WFAA in a statement late Tuesday.

Sini and her husband are expected in court Wednesday morning for a CPS custody hearing for their 4-year-old biological daughter, according to NBC 5.

The arrest warrant of Wesley reveals details from an interview the police conducted with the father in October. He admitted to trying to get Sherin, who suffered from developmental issues, to drink milk in their garage Oct. 7 at 3 a.m. When she refused to drink, Mathews said he tried to force her.

"She was coughing and her breathing slowed," the warrant read. "Eventually, Wesley Mathews no longer felt a pulse on the child and believed she had died."

Mathews told police he moved Sherin's body from the home after she apparently died, according to the warrant.

This story contradicts what Mathews initially told the police when he called them around 8 a.m. Oct. 7.

Mathews had told police that he had sent Sherin outside alone as punishment for not drinking her milk at 3 a.m. He claimed that when he went to check on her, she was gone and that he feared a coyote may have gotten to her.

During the five hours before Mathews called the police, he allegedly did laundry.